


Are You a Love Match?

by AHS



Category: Actor RPF, Queer as Folk (US) RPF
Genre: Astrology, M/M, Randy pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-09-01
Updated: 2007-09-01
Packaged: 2017-10-12 23:16:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/130221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AHS/pseuds/AHS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Randy's pov.  Set mid-first season filming.  Randy's dealing with one costar who's hot and flirty but probably not interested and one costar who's playing matchmaker and using astrology to do it!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Are You a Love Match?

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I made this up.
> 
> This was a result of all the emails I was getting from www.tarot.com. Some of the astrology stuff in the fic I got from there, and some (from the day to day horoscopes) I made up. The section on Scorpios I got from www.elore.com. And the compatibility thing for them... I actually did that. Not wrote it, I mean I paid for it, lol.

I blame Makyla.

Every day that we had scenes together, she would corner me at the craft services table, some newspaper or magazine in hand, and excitedly start reading me my horoscope.

I told her those things were crap. She didn’t scoff or hit me in offense. She just got this dangerous little smile and set about quietly changing my mind.

First came the clipped out daily horoscopes left in my prop textbooks. Then, scribblings in my notebooks -- sometimes, even my script -- about my astrological sign, Scorpio, and what it said about me…

_It’s all or nothing for a Scorpio. No middle ground. Never settle._

_Scorpios are willful, proud and calm, with an electrifying undercurrent of seething intensity._

_Scorpio will rarely be found in the center of activity, but will always know just what is going on of concern to him._

_They are serious folk, but quite charming to people they like._

_Scorpios are demanding of others, but never ask someone to do what they would not do themselves. They can be fanatically focused and work till they drop, and ask the same of those around them._

_They possess tenacity, depth of character, and passionate conviction, but it is their deep sensitivity that makes them the best and most loyal friend._

_Their sensitivity, however, allows them to be easily hurt, quick to feel insult or injury -- even when none is intended, and easily roused to heights of anger._

_Their tragic flaw is their immense pride._

Okay, it was still all crap. But it was damn accurate crap. Perhaps “electrifying undercurrent of seething intensity” was a bit grandiose… not wrong, though. Those things might as well have been written about me specifically. I am serious, proud, sometimes overly sensitive, and definitely a workaholic. No revelations here, but… that’s when I started actually paying attention to what Mak would say at the craft services table.

And she must have noticed, and I guess she got confident I wouldn‘t tell her to fuck off, because the clippings she would slip me veered into the territory of romantic advice… love through astrological compatibility and how the signs supposedly match up. I learned I was a water sign, whatever that meant, and that my best romantic matches were the other water signs, Pisces and Cancer. Yeah, okay. I didn’t even have time to date, let alone ask potential guys their sign (‘cause, really, who uses that line?). So I didn’t think much of it until one day, standing around waiting on a scene with Mak and Gale…

“Hey, Gale, when’s your birthday?” she asked casually.

“July 10th.”

“Hmm, so that would make you a… _Cancer_.”

Mak looked at me pointedly before starting to read Gale’s horoscope aloud. Meanwhile, Gale happened to notice that I was choking.

_shit… no air… help…_

I heard a distant, “Oh my God,” from Mak, and the next thing I knew Gale was behind me, his arms squeezing me under my ribs, almost lifting me up, and the near fatal carrot stick flew out of my mouth.

How _fucking_ embarrassing.

“Rand, you okay?” He rubbed my shoulders and patted my back as I coughed, then pulled me back against his chest. I wondered if it was my heartbeat or his I felt going so fast.

Mak handed me a glass of water I shakily drank. A few crew guys who’d noticed the spectacle tried to talk to me, but Gale assured them I was fine, waving them kindly away. He takes care of me like that.

“Thanks,” I said, noticing my voice came out a bit scratchy. “Shit.” I took another gulp of water.

“You want me to tell John you just almost died and you need a longer break?” Mak asked, completely seriously.

“No,” I laughed. “I’m fine. Tell him I’ll be right there.” I was still sort of leaning on Gale, and I turned around to look at him, my face gone from red to only slightly pink. “And I’ll blame Justin’s sore throat on Brian’s dick.”

His laughter boomed, and he hugged me. “That works. And just think, we’ve got the naked ice cream scene later. It’ll feel good, huh?”

I know he meant the cold ice cream would feel good on my throat, but I couldn’t help but take a double meaning from his words.

Makyla didn’t film for a few weeks after that, but she left me Gale’s horoscope for that day, the one she never got a chance to read.

_Trust your instincts today and take action. The beneficiary may be someone you love… and, in turn, yourself. A required activity will prove sweeter than you perhaps think it should._

Well… you can read anything into a horoscope at the end of the day, but… yeah, that was weird. And from “ _someone you love_ ” on, I was totally suckered.

She would email me links to my horoscope as well as Gale’s. That, plus the hinting little notes and winking smiley faces she’d often include, clued me in to the fact that she wanted Gale and me to hook up. Fuck, that was all my crush needed… a cheerleader.

_You need to stop_ , I typed to her.  _One, we work together, so it’s just not smart. Two, we don’t even know if he’s gay._

_You don’t think I’d claim him on behalf of the female population if I thought I could? He HAS to be gay. And he’s crazy about you!_

_We're close, sure.  I mean, we kind of have to be! LOL... But, I don't know.  I don't want to assume anything about him._

_Well, then let's find out the truth._

_You want to ask him?  You want me to ask him??_

_No, no.  I might have another way..._

Turns out, she had discovered an alternative to the regular horoscopes… something called _gayscopes_. Don’t ask me what the difference was supposed to be. I think the gay version was a little more playful, naughty, had more fashion tips maybe, I don‘t know. Anyway, she gave me the links and told me to read Gale’s every day, both kinds, and determine which was more accurate.

Of course I knew this little experiment wouldn’t prove shit, and so did she. But did I do it? Yes, I did.

******

So, we had this episode where Gale and Hal had to play the guitar. And sing, badly, but that’s beside the point. It’s all about Gale and his guitar. Sexiest damn thing I’d ever seen. I don’t think Brian was supposed to be that good, but Gale could really play. I wasn’t in the scene, but I’d filmed a “Woody’s” scene earlier that day and decided (I wasn’t the only one) to hang around. Those blue jeans they had him in, and that white T-shirt, and the way he pulled the body of the guitar against his groin and his fingers worked over the strings…

God, I wanted to be that guitar. (Some might say that most days I was… _Play me, Gale, *play me*._ )

He caught me afterwards, after the extras had dispersed and everything was winding down. He still had the guitar.

“Props said I could play with it for a while,” he grinned, like a kid with a cool new toy.

“Rock on.” _Rock on?? Was I always such a dork?_

“You play? I know you know music.”

“Oh, no. I sing and I get by on the piano, but no guitar.”

“C’mere.”

I took a couple of steps towards him and he gave me the guitar, then proceeded to stand behind me, pressed closely, and position my hands on it. His long fingers lingered over mine and he spoke low instructions that burned my ear. We strummed a few chords of GnR’s (hah) _Sweet Child O’ Mine_. I messed up and Gale pinched my sides, laughing hot breaths on my neck. His body warm and kind of sweaty behind me from the scene.

Shit, I had to get away.

“Thanks, um… for the lesson… but I’m late for…”

“What, you got a hot date?”

“What? Oh… yeah, yeah,” I mumbled in mindless agreement over my shoulder at him.

“Really?“ His voice quirked curiously. “It’s Wednesday.”

“Right, well… Friday, Saturday dating, that’s so done, so cliché… I’ll see you tomorrow, Gale.”

I didn’t want to let go of the guitar… I _couldn’t._ I needed it at that moment to keep him from seeing just how much of an effect he had on me. (For crying out loud, we weren’t even naked.) Finally I held it out to the side, waited until he took it, and walked away quickly but (hopefully) casually, keeping my back to Gale. If he knew, he didn’t say anything, except…

“Bye, Rand.”

When I got home, I checked the stupid horoscope site right away. Gale’s…

_You may find the opportunity to rediscover talents you had let slide. Combine this dreamer part of you with a practical application to reach a harmonious result. Be careful of confusing a coworker._

Well, that was pretty good… the guitar and all. Confusing? Haha, no, not at all. Which was, of course, why I then checked his gayscope…

_If there is someone you would like to get closer to, take the chance as it presents itself. Give yourself time to ponder your gut-level reactions; they’re significant. Not one usually prone to jealousy, you may not recognize the feeling when it hits you._

I knew what my slightly _below_ gut-level reaction had been, *ahem*… but I had no idea of Gale’s. I mean, he was always pretty… tactile. (Didn’t I know it.) That was so, just, a Gale thing that I couldn’t really take it as indicative of anything more.

And, jealousy… No way he could have been jealous of my non-existent date, could he??

Checked mine…

_The universe is sending an extra dose of masculine energy toward you. Expect the men in your life to play very significant roles today. If one cranks up the heat, don’t be afraid to go with it, because your sexiness is on high._

Extra dose of masculine energy? Might that be Gale pressed up against me? I didn’t know about my sexiness on high, though. Sometimes being close to Gale made me so nervous… (Is it possible to be your most comfortable and most nervous with the same person?)… I felt like, well, a seventeen-year-old kid.

I almost didn’t look at the “regular” horoscope for myself anymore… after all, I was sure I was gay… but what the hell…

_Something big and weird and kind of exciting is going on… possibly a conspiracy of sorts… and while you can’t quite put your finger on exactly what the big deal is, you can tell it’s going to be good when all is revealed in the coming weeks._

Uh huh. That’s one of those that sounds very specific, but it’s actually completely vague. Ooh, I wondered, what’s going to be revealed? The Chinese restaurant I order from is changing their Crab Rangoon recipe? The cable in my building is being bundled differently and in a few weeks I’m going to get Showtime?

Or… could Gale be the big deal I can’t put my finger on… yet?

******

Working on the next episode, I reevaluated what the sexiest thing I had even seen was. Gale holding the babies that play Gus, _that_ turned my insides to jello.

I’d seen him play Daddy Brian several times before, and it always got to me, but he was doing a lot of those kind of scenes in this ep, a couple of which I was in, too. I’d never been one to get goopy over babies… in fact, I dreaded that siren wail of a cry they’d launch into just in time to ruin a take… but I found myself grinning at the li’l rugrat in my arms as it kept trying to poke a tiny finger into my mouth. I laughed at the bizarre amount of strength the baby must have to force its way past my clamped-shut lips and thought I heard Gale laughing, too. I looked, expecting to see him where he’d just stood a few feet away, but instead I felt him behind me. The shiver that ran along the back of my neck startled me so much I’m surprised I didn’t drop the kid.

“Jeez, Gale.”

“See? Everybody wants to get in that mouth of yours.”

Gale dropped his chin to my right shoulder and reached his hand around my side, sticking his pinky up and making light saber sounds as he “battled” the baby’s finger. The baby giggled and wiggled in delight. Honestly, I think I did, too, because Gale’s other hand had landed on my waist.

__

*sigh* Really not fair.

“Okay, people, settle down!” the director shouted, and it was back to business, back to places. Except that Alex’s booming voice freaked the baby out and it started crying. Everyone groaned but Gale.

“No crying, okay, kiddo?” he whispered soothingly to it. “Be nice to Randy. Just look in those blue eyes and you’ll feel better. Always works for me.”

Good God. I don’t know how I kept my concentration for the scene, but luckily Justin staring dreamily at Brian was pretty much always in character, even if not expressly scripted. And, of course, the baby calmed right down.

Gale’s horoscopes for the day…

_Dreaming up new ways of doing your job can help you alleviate the boredom in your life these days. You should let people see your nurturing side. You have the magic touch; don’t let it go to waste._

_Your flirting powers are at their strongest lately. The lucky guy on the receiving end of your advances is feeling the heat. Be careful, though… If things get too hot, he might just melt clean away!_

So, was all the attention he paid me just a way to stave off boredom? In need of a sounding board, I caught Makyla online and started batting emails back and forth. I recounted all the recent Gale interaction of note, and she squealed like crazy… well, as much as you can in an email.

_*SQUEEE*… Omg, I knew it, I knew it! He is so flirting with you!_

_Mak, calm down. I know we play teenagers, but do we have to act like it?_

_Hey, I still am a teenager, so I’m allowed! Pardon me for being excited for you!_

_I still don’t think it means anything… nevermind what the horoscopes say._

_What about what Gale says? “Everybody wants to get in that mouth of yours”? And the thing about your eyes? HELLOOOO?!_

_Maybe… I always say that’s just Gale being Gale, but even for him that was a little… much._

_What did your horoscope say, Randy?_

_Uh… something about paying attention to clues… and a pattern emerging… I don’t know._

But as soon as I stopped to think about it, I could see… and feel… Gale sneaking up behind me, hands on me, as he played with the baby… Gale standing behind me, touching me, trying to teach me the guitar… even Gale pressed against my back, arms tight around me, giving me the Heimlich maneuver. And dozens more memories like that.

Email popped up.

_So what do you think it means??_

I sat in my computer chair for ten minutes, staring at but not seeing the screen, before I finally emailed back.

_I don’t know, Mak… Gotta go. Early call time. Bye._

I’d gotten to the point where I couldn’t help hoping it really did mean something. But I wanted to keep the pattern I’d found to myself until I knew for sure.

In lieu of goodbye, she replied with a web address and two words: _Try it_. Slightly more curious than wary, I followed the link to a site with large, bold letters screaming, _Are you a love match?_ It was offering a romantic compatibility reading for the low, low price of $19.95. Huh…

No, I told myself. No way you’re going to start paying for this shit. You’re too smart for that… too mature…

It probably wouldn’t even let you put in two guys. It didn‘t seem to be affiliated with the gayscopes. Maybe I’d just check…

Oh my God, it worked. And, oh my God, I actually just put in my fucking credit card information to get it, I realized. Not to mention Gale’s and my names, birthdates, and birth places. What if this is traced back to me? My next stupid interview I’m going to get asked about it. So, Randy Harrison, is it true you’re so goofy in love with your costar, you paid a computer to tell you if the alignment of the planets says you have a romantic hope in hell? Every bit of logic in my head that had been pushed to the side for weeks came out of hiding and started shouting at me to give up this ridiculous obsession once and for all.

But then I read the rather lengthy… rather positive profile. My finger clicked “print.” And my head shut the fuck up.

******

The next week, after a particularly exhausting day… which taught me that even more torturous than an actual sex scene was a scene where we were just kind of sprawled on top of each other naked, talking, Gale kissing up my body (arrgh#@%!)… Gale asked me if I wanted to hang out. Despite my “crush,” or whatever you want to call it, we were friends and that was something we fairly often did, so I said sure.

“We can watch movies… but we might want to go to your place,” he said.

“Okay… Why not yours?”

“No DVD player.”

“Right, I forgot. You’re trying to single-handedly halt technology’s out of control progress through your allegiance to the VCR,” I chuckled. “Well, we can watch your old rickety tapes.”

“Can’t actually. VCR’s broken.”

At that point I started laughing so hard he put an arm around me and walked my shaking body out to my car.

“I know, it’s fucking sad. I can fix a motorcycle, but I’m bested by a VCR. Don’t tell anybody.”

“Your secret’s safe with me. Follow?”

“See you there.”

***

We ended up not even watching any movies. We turned on the TV, landed on _The Daily Show_ , watched that for a bit, and then just talked. I went to the kitchen and came back with an interesting assortment of potato chips, fresh veggies, and beer. When I brought a carrot stick to my mouth, Gale moved closer to me on the couch and put his hands out like he was going to grab me.

“What are you doing?” I asked cautiously.

“Getting ready to perform the Heimlich again. Those carrot sticks are dangerous.” His voice was serious but his face was grinning.

“Haha… um… You know, I never really thanked you enough for that day… saving my life.”

Gale shrugged, brushing it off. “Eh, I dunno. You might have been fine, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I can’t continue to make high-quality porn without you.”

“Again, thanks… I think?“ I giggled. “The worst part would have been if I died choking on a food I don’t even like. I only eat carrots to try and keep my eyesight from getting worse. I convince myself if I eat enough my sight will actually get better and I can stop wearing these.” I fingered the glasses I always slipped on after hours distastefully. Sometimes I thought they highlighted my intelligence, but mostly I just thought they made me look like a dweeb.

“I like your glasses,” Gale said, kind of softly. He was leaning back into the couch cushions and looking at me… like, really staring at my face. I almost asked, “What?”, but I held it in. The moment was quiet, except for a crackling awareness. His hand brushed my thigh and I got nervous and jumped up. “Movie? Let me go see what I have in my room, um… Be right back.”

Once in the safety of my bedroom, I took a deep breath and shook off the… whatever that had been. I was probably imagining it, anyway. I grabbed a handful of DVDs, don’t even know what, and went back out. I guess maybe I was gone a few minutes longer than I realized, because when I got to the living room, Gale had taken a little walkabout, all the way over to my computer desk, and was holding and reading a small stack of papers.

_Oh… shit._

ShitfuckshitfuckshitFUCK!!!

I forgot the compatibility profile was still over there. I didn’t know Gale was coming over… and I just forgot about it…

I stood there for a minute, as yet unnoticed, frozen by the horror of watching him reading… and I couldn’t play it off, because it’s not like it didn’t have both our names right there at the top… until I was suddenly unfrozen by the sound of his laughter.

I couldn’t blame him. I should have just been relieved that he wasn’t angry or creeped out or running for his life (I liked to make fun of Justin, but I‘d gone way beyond him in the stalker department). But he was laughing at me and I was hurt, and irrationally a little angry, and both feelings stung. There was no way to explain it away, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able look him in the eye at work, and I just needed him to go.

I dropped the movies on the couch, strode to the door with my chin up, and opened it. “I’m sensing movie night’s not going to happen now, so you can just… leave, all right?”

To his credit, Gale left the profile on the desk. I wasn’t looking, but I heard the soft fall of the paper. Then his footsteps towards me, and I forced myself to meet his eyes. Some odd mix of sadness and amusement swirled in there, but confusion was absent, despite his question.

“I don’t give a fuck about movies. But why am I leaving?”

“I would think you’d want to. As fast as possible.”

Gale shook his head, pushed the door closed and stood with his back against it, facing me. “You know what I think?”

I answered with a silent pout.

“I think your tragic flaw is rearing its ugly head and giving me shit… quite unnecessarily.”

“My tragic flaw?”

“That immense Scorpio pride of yours.”

“What?”

I thought hard, but could not recall any mention of my tragic Scorpio pride in that profile.

“I wasn’t laughing at you, Rand. I was laughing because I almost paid for that thing myself.”

“W-what?” I repeated, this time with a bonus stammer.

“Makyla is a sweet girl, and full of all kinds of information. I thought it was weird when she started slipping me all the astrology shit, until I figured out what she was trying to tell me.”

“She…?”

“She’s a little obvious, yeah. My horoscopes, then mine and yours. With little notes saying, ’FYI, for your _working_ relationship… _*wink-wink*._ ’”

“Oh my God, Gale. That’s her thing. I did _not_ know she was doing that. I’m sorry…” _Crazy bitch! I hate Makyla!_

“But I realized I didn’t mind. In fact, I was enjoying the encouragement.”

“Encouragement?”

“In pursuing you. I thought I probably shouldn’t, and I couldn’t tell if you wanted me to, but the fucking stars seemed to be saying go for it.”

_I fucking love Makyla._

I couldn’t breathe. “You’ve been… pursuing me?” I managed to gasp.

“You couldn’t tell?”

I put a hand to my head and turned slowly, taking a few steps back into the living room. And I didn’t hear him move, just felt Gale behind me… forehead against my hair, hands lightly on my hips, every inch of the front of him covering the back of me. A very familiar position, but with a difference… He was unmistakably hard.

“Can you tell now?”

My hand slid up and behind me, into Gale’s hair, of its own volition, as he lowered his lips to my neck and let himself gently grind into me.

“Didn’t you see that part of the profile that reads, ‘ _Gale is very much aware of Randy's beauty or attractiveness and finds Randy very persuasive and appealing._ ’?”

“I seem to recall something like that.” I reached back and grabbed his ass. “How about, ‘ _You make an excellent team, and you generate a lot of steam for anything you undertake together._ ’?”

“Yeah, that was a good one.” Gale stopped and whirled me around.

I knew he was going to kiss me, and I wanted him to, but maybe seeing his eyes made me nervous again. I bit my lip.

“‘ _Randy should confront the fears and inhibitions that Gale's directness evokes_ ,’” he quoted.  


I smiled deeply. “Randy will try. Just one question?”

"Sure."

“Do you read the regular horoscopes or the gayscopes?"

Gale laughed quietly, made a face like he was really thinking, then just said, "Does it matter?"  


Seemed like it should, but I found myself happily muttering, “Not really,” and kissing him with all the ‘ _tenderness’_ and ‘ _passion’_ and ‘ _intimate closeness’_ that I knew, even without a compatibility profile, we had between us. When our lips parted, he pulled me into him, hugging me, and I could hear and feel and practically taste his grin.

“My turn for just one question?”

“Sure.”

“You think maybe I could take you out… some Wednesday?” He winked and I winked back.

“Or even sooner.”

He squeezed me tighter. “I lied. One more question.”

I laughed, happiness bubbling up. “Ask away.”

“Is it really all or nothing for a Scorpio?”  


“Hmm… yeah.”

“That’s good,” he said. “Because, according to this, we’re probably gonna get married.”

“I’m sure Mak will let us know when it’s time.”

  
 


End file.
